VFL GRAND FINALS (2000-)

Whilst the VFA may have been renamed the VFL in 1996, it was not until the 2000 season that the VFA became the new State League that we are familiar with today.

Following the 1999 season the Australian Football League (AFL) ended their Reserves competition, a decision that left the reserves teams of the Melbourne-based clubs searching for a new home.

Six AFL clubs (Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Richmond, and St Kilda) fielded stand-alone teams in the new VFL competition and a new club named the Murray Kangaroos was also added, increasing the VFA-VFL from the 11 teams that had competed since 1996 to 18 teams for the 2000 season.

The remaining AFL clubs formed alliances that allowed players who missed selection to take the field for a VFL affiliate. Since that year affiliations have changed, the stand-alone AFL clubs have come and gone, but the one constant has been the inability of the VFA-VFL clubs to win the premiership without an AFL affiliation.﻿

John Baird and Gary Ayres raise the trophy after the 2011 Grand Final [Sporting Pulse (photographer unknown)]

Port Melbourne were the first stand-alone club to win the premiership in the new league; their triumph is even more remarkable when one considers they went through the 2011 season undefeated with a 21-0 record.

NOTE - in the following table, the column labelled "AFF." indicates the AFL club the Grand Final teams were affiliated with that season.

KEY MOMENTS (2000-)

2000 - Sandringham comfortably defeated North Ballarat at Waverley Park; the only VFA-VFL Grand Final played at the venue. It was also the final match played there before the stadium was demolished and reconfigured into a training base for the Hawthorn Football Club.

2002 - Geelong's Reserves side won their first VFA-VFL premiership. The team included several young players that would later form the nucleus of their AFL premiership winning sides, including Gary Ablett junior, Paul Chapman, Jimmy Bartel, Steve Johnson, James Kelly and Josh Hunt.

2004 - Sandringham won the first of three successive premierships. They entered the final term with a narrow lead of 16 points and survived a Port Melbourne challenge to win by 4 points.

2007 - Geelong's Reserves side won their second VFA-VFL premiership. A week later their AFL affiliate won the AFL Grand Final; making Geelong the first club to win an AFL and VFL premiership double.

2008 - North Ballarat won the first VFA-VFL Grand Final to be played at night. This was also the first of three successive premierships won by the Roosters.

2011 - Port Melbourne became the first stand-alone VFA-VFL club to win a premiership in this era. Their Grand Final victory gave them a 21-0 record for the season and made them the first team to complete a perfect season since Geelong West in 1972 (Second division) and North Melbourne in 1918.

2013 - Box Hill and their AFL affiliate Hawthorn won the second AFL and VFL premiership double (Geelong in 2007 were the first to achieve this feat).

2014 - Footscray Bulldogs, the reserves team for the AFL's Western Bulldogs, won the premiership in their first year in the VFA-VFL competition.

2015 - Williamstown became just the second stand-alone VFA-VFL club to win a premiership in this era, storming away from Box Hill to win their first premiership in 12 years.

2016 - The Bulldogs became the first team to win the premiership from 4th position since Williamstown in 1990 and won their second flag in just three seasons in the competition. Their AFL affiliate, the Western Bulldogs, won the AFL premiership the following week; joining Geelong (2007) and Hawthorn/Box Hill (2013) as the only clubs to achieve an AFL and VFL premiership double.

2017 - Port Melbourne became the third stand-alone winners of the VFA-VFL premiership in this era. The Borough started the season asking for donations to avoid folding and finished the season as unlikely premiers.